NSA contractor who leaked details of surveillance scheme reveals himself: The 29-year-old hiding out in Hong Kong after he stole secret data and fled U.S.
- Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former CIA technical assistant, says he passed the classified information to The Guardian
- The documents blew open a number of intense NSA surveillance operations and caused a firestorm over the government’s actions
- Snowden, a high school drop-out, says he leaked information because he doesn’t ‘want to live in a society that does these sort of things’
- Comes after National Intelligence director James R Clapper defended the surveillance programs for keeping America safe
- NSA filed criminal report with Justice Dept. in relation to leaks to The Guardian and The Washington Post